BMC wants to name park after Bal Thackeray

Just five months after the civic body approved Shiv Sena’s demand that a garden be developed at Shivaji Park in memory of late Sena chief Bal Thackeray, a proposal to name a nature park park in Powai after Thackeray was placed in the party group leaders’ meeting on Wednesday.

The park proposed to be named ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat Shri Balasaheb Thackeray garden’ is located adjacent to the Powai lake. The periphery of the lake, which includes the park, has an amphi theatre, joggers’ track-cum-walkway and a musical fountain. The proposal also stated that 20 stone structures displaying Thackeray’s selected cartoons be erected at the site. However, a decision on the proposal was deferred at the meeting.

“The proposal was tabled at the meeting but since it pertains to a policy matter, we will discuss it with senior party leaders and then take a decision,” said mayor Sunil Prabhu, who presides over the party group leaders’ meetings in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

At the meeting, Sena also proposed building a statue of Sambhaji Raje, son of Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji, and a memorial for late philanthropist and planner Jagannath Shankar Sheth.

While the statue for Sambhaji Raje is proposed to be erected at Mulund octroi check post on the Eastern Express highway, there are several plots that were proposed for a memorial to be built for Sheth.

“Sambhaji Raje Bhosalehas made significant achievements. There is a need that his legacy and contributions are disseminated to the younger generations,” said Yashodhar Phanse, leader of the house in BMC, who mooted the proposal.